Notre Dame’s defense might just be turning a corner as the Fighting Irish hit the midpoint of the 2025 campaign.
After giving up 41 points to Texas A&M and then 30 points to a poor Purdue team the next week, Notre Dame and defensive coordinator Chris Ash have rebounded to give up just 27 points combined over the last three weeks.
NC State entered Saturday’s contest with one of the nation’s most explosive offenses behind quarterback CJ Bailey and running back Hollywood Smothers, but the Irish defense held them to just seven points.
Bailey finished 17-of-30 for 186 yards, one touchdowns and three interceptions, while Smothers totaled just 46 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman can’t point to a specific moment the defense turned the corner, but praised his team for the work they put in to fix the early-season issues.
“It's just continuously hard work, evaluation, practice, corrections,” Freeman said. “That's the formula. There's never a moment you say, ‘That's it.’ You look back over the season and you say, OK, maybe we changed and we got some things corrected.
“They have to understand it's the work that you put in that gives you a chance. If they think it's a moment, then all of a sudden they think, ‘Alright, we're good now.’ No, it's the work you put in and the way you prepare that gives you an opportunity to play like that on Saturday and then you've got to go and execute on Saturdays.”
Defensive end Boubacar Traore spoke about the defense and the defensive line playing as one following the win over NC State.
It’s a testament to the players and staff not only listening to Freeman’s message of not placing blame, but embracing it.
“The commitment to what we're asking our guys to do, the sacrifice they're making, the choice they have to make every single Saturday and put team before me, and the choice they have to make Monday through Friday to say I have to elevate as an individual,” Freeman said. “I have to get better.
“If they continue to do that, they'll understand that we have room to grow. This is where we're at. We've got to continuously get better, and that's just -- you have to train your mind to just focus on the moment.”
That also includes picking up the offense. The Irish offense hasn’t struggled much this season, but there have been ebbs and flows. Notre Dame’s defense has more than carried the weight when needed over the last two weeks.
“We take a lot of pride in that,” stated Traore. “Whenever the defense is down, I feel like the offense is having our back and I feel like it's just vice versa. We have to be able to have each other's backs when times get rough. The brotherhood we have allows us to really just complement each other.”
The Irish might be on a four-game winning streak, but Freeman isn’t focused on College Football Playoff discussion, especially with USC coming to South Bend next weekend.
“I know a lot of people focus on the big picture, but we can't,” Freeman explained. “We have to focus on what we have in front of us. That's opportunity, one, to enjoy this victory, but now go back to work and improve, and that hopefully will get us this four-game winning streak, the results that we want.”
Notre Dame’s ability to pressure Bailey and cover led to the three interceptions. It’s another step forward for a group that had issues simply knowing assignments on the back end four weeks ago.
“I think we got good pressure up front,” stated Freeman. “It was the cover two. It was perfect, man. He did his job, had three on the over, was in a great position and made the play. That's an understanding what you're asked to do play with clarity and execute your assignment. I know Karson (Hobbs) had one at the end, Kyngstonn (Viliamu-Asa) had one, but usually it's the front and the coverage that helps you with all those things, but I guess it was an accumulation of guys executing on that play.”
Freeman also made sure to give credit to Ash and the leadership of the defense for the turnaround.
“He's the leader of the defense, I'm going to always give him the credit,” Freeman said of Ash. “I give the players the credit for buying in and working.
“Our captains like Adon (Shuler) and Donny (Hinish) and Drayk (Bowen) have done an unbelievable job continuing to make sure our guys are practicing the right way but their mindsets are right. This is our defense. This is ours, and that's the buy-in that I think you're seeing the reflection of.”
Notre Dame will enjoy Saturday night, but the program will quickly turn its focus to USC.
“It feels good to be playing together, playing violent,” said Traore. “As far as this game, it's over, so we got to look forward to doing the same thing week after week.”
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